Postcard Friendship Friday

Here is another old postcard that was in with some old pictures.  I certainly have never heard of  "Jug Rock" but it must have been a local attraction.  Interesting back of the card - certainly the person who addressed the card was not the same person writing the message.

Here is a picture I found on the internet of Jug Rock.
Location: Next to the town of Shoals, on Highway 50 west of town. The pullout where you can park is unmarked, but is on the north side of the roads about 200 yards downhill from the Shoals Overlook Rest Park. Another part of the preserve is reached by going back to Shoals on US 50, turning right on Polar Street and right again on White River Road, with another pullout about .4 mile along between two private homes.



Description: Two interesting sandstone formations. You can climb to the top of the Pinnacle for a good view, but climbing to the top of Jug Rock is both illegal and inadvisable.


Ownership: Indiana DNR
(Click to enlarge)

Happy Thanksgiving

I found this picture and thought what an appropriate "piece of the past" for Thanksgiving Day.  Looking at it closer, the gentleman carving the nicely browned bird looked vaguely familiar.  Then I looked at his wife and I knew - it was Ike and Mamie ready to enjoy their holiday feast.  I thought at first it might have been taken in the White House, but on checking it could not have been there.   Their son, John, stands beside him and   John's wife is Julie Nixon, daughter of Richard Nixon.  John and Julie were married in 1968 and Ike went out of office in 1961.  As the picture shows, the couple has three children so it must have been in the 70's.  Regardless, a sweet family picture.   I cast my first presidential vote for Eisenhower - and didn't get to do it until after I was 21 since that year there was no election.  Looks like everyone in the photo is anticipating a great dinner.  I hope you have one, too!  (Click to enlarge)

From Fashion Friday on Funoldhag

The lovely model for today is my Aunt Leah, Nan's sister, who must have been in her mid-teens when this photo was taken. Leah is looking cute and stylish in her high button shoes, dark stockings, possibly a pleated skirt and dark coat. Around her neck is a pretty scarf and she is wearing a wool cap with a cute pompon. I am sure she probably has some nice gloves or mittens but her hands are in her pocket since it is a cold day in Peoria, Illinois. I know exactly where this picture was taken - it is in the back yard of my grandparents' home and that is a very large old garage that is almost barnlike. Aunt Leah was very special to me - I loved being around her. She never married and lived with my grandparents all her life - there was just Grandma and Leah for quite a while. When I was a child, I used to love to stay at their house for a week or two in the summer and sometimes for a while during Christmas vacation. It was like a second home.   (Click to enlarge) 

Old Chillicothe

From 1936, this old book shows all the houses and businesses in Chillicothe, Illinois,  a town only three miles north of the little town of Rome where I grew up.  I went to high school and later lived in Chillicothe when I was first married.  We were transferred to Iowa from there in 1956, but returned in 1984 after my husband retired and lived there another 8 years.  So Chillicothe is dear to my heart and this old book is fun for me to look through.  I thought I might do posts weekly with some of the pictures that are there. 

This old building is still there and is right on the corner across from the city park. 

The city hall at the end of one of the two blocks that made up the main street where the businesses were located.  The police station, fire trucks and jail were all in this building.  Note the old cars.  We  moved to the area when I was seven years old so had been there about a year when this was published.  

Here is the city  council - Ilion Wait, the City Clerk,  served for decades.  Ed Pennington, Mayor, was the town barber as I remember.  Stay turned for more pictures of this little town just north of Peoria in the heart of Illinois.  Actually, a great place to live and to grow up.  (Click to enlarge)

Postcard Friendship Friday

Another postcard I found in with the old pictures.  Have no idea who this belonged to and, as you can see, it was never used.  It is a beautiful old church and is from a town north and east from our hometown in Illinois.

I remember reading something by one of the collectors about the backs of postcards that were undivided and the back of this one is in that category.  Pretty old card.  Thanks, Beth, at http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/   for your great job of hosting.  One other note, if you happened to have ready my granddaughter, Hannah's, blog, there is a short post today.  They have all learned now where they will be for the two years in Africa.  She will actually be setting up a new site by herself.  I am so proud of her and know that she is an intelligent, hardworking, determined young woman.  It's hard to think of her so far away, but I am behind her all the way and very in awe of what she is doing.  If you would like to read her blog, just click on her picture on the sidebar and go to Singing Under the Southern Cross.  (Click pictures to enlarge)

From Fashion Friday on Funoldhag

Today there are several lovely models and outfits to admire. Nan, my stylish mom, is on the right end of this group of nice looking young people out for a day of an unknown activity. Nan's date has a piece of paper in his hand that could be a program of some sort - maybe a concert in Glen Oak Park? I think his plaid cap is so cool, don't you? The girls all look stunning in their pretty outfits and wonderful hats while the fellows tend to be wearing very similar suits except for the fellow who has made his stand out with the plaid cap. Another observation - there are three fellows and four girls so don't know which ones are couples and never will, sigh. A light bulb just went on over my head!! There probably is one more fella - who would be taking the picture? DUH! Another senior moment!! One more comment, the two little gals on the left must be very, very short. Nan was not tall - probably 5' 3" - but she looks tall in the photo. When I was looking closely at this picture, I spotted something around Nan's neck - and it dawned on me that it was her watch! I have that watch and above is a scan of it. Inside the case is engraved "Nan Pearce" so there is not doubt at all. On the outside of the case is an NP which I'm not sure will show up when enlarged. I have so grown to appreciate all the old pictures as I have grown older. Hope you enjoy them, also.  (Click to enlarge)    
 (Posted earlier on Funoldhag)

A Good Old Recipe

(This is a wonderful recipe for home baked beans - but I never put that much salt in - maybe a teaspoonful - and I chopped the onion.  There is also a quick method of soaking beans which entails boiling them and then covering and letting them set for a certain amount of time.  You can check in a cookbook or on the internet.)

When we moved to the Kansas City area, we had a nice old couple for neighbors - Mil and Jun.  At the time, Ray and I were in our early forties and the Wilsons were in their early 70's.  They were fun people - Mil and I went together and had our ears pierced - she bought diamond studs and I wore the junky type I still wear.  They never had any children, but they had good friends with a daughter and they were like family with them.   Mil gave me this recipe for baked beans from scratch and also told me how to fix barbecued brisket that they used to have on Christmas Eve. This is one heckuva delicious meal and one that I have made many, many times in the past 35 to 40 years.  The family loves it.  I haven't  made it much lately as I just don't cook like I used to.  Sherry has carried on with the brisket part and it's always really well received.  Around here, it's hard to find a whole brisket or the flat end but in the KC area they were out in the meat case all the time so you have to ask the butcher ahead of time to save you one.  The way Mil told me to fix that was to put aluminum foil in a pan big enough to hold the brisket and have plenty foil to seal it but  not wrapped tightly around the meat.  I always sprinkled lots of good stuff over it - salt, pepper, dill weed, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, paprika, minced onions, barbecue spice, etc., whatever you have in your spice cabinet that might sound good.  Then you bake it slowly -250 for 8 hours (get the connection - the same as the beans!) and then drain the liquid off and there will be a lot of that since the brisket really shrinks.  Add your favorite barbecue sauce and bake some more - use your judgment, I don't have a specific amount of time but you would raise the oven temperature.  My daughter shreds the brisket after it is baked and puts it in a crockpot with the sauce and uses it for sandwiches.  I always just sliced it and served it that way.  Regardless, this is a good meal - comfort food!  (Click to enlarge)